Life Is Always Better After
by lyoko-scipio-1114
Summary: Sequal to The Overturned Picture. UxY. Ulrich, Yumi, and William return back to Kadic after what happened. Nothing can ever tear the group apart now, or can it? R&R, Rated for later chapter fighting and slight drama&depression.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone! Ok, so here's chapter one of the sequel to "The Overturned Picture," and it may be a little before chapter two is posted, I'm not sure where I want this plot to go, I'm having a little bit of a writers block. Ideas are welcome to help me write the next few chapters. Thanks, read and review. **

Chapter 1

It was almost a week later, and the gang was elated with joy. Ulrich was back, for good. The gang had gone together to meet with Mr. Delmas two days ago, to see if Ulrich and Yumi could return to the school and continue their classes. Mr. Delmas (and Sissi, for that matter,) was happy to let them be re-enrolled in the school.

So, the gang was all together again, and nothing could separate them again.

**At Odd and Ulrich's Dorm:**

It was a cool Saturday afternoon, just after lunchtime, and the group was all gathered in the dorm room. Ulrich was on sitting on his bed, with Yumi next to him, not letting him out of her sight. Odd was lounging on his bed, on the opposite wall, with Kiwi sleeping on him. Jeremie had his laptop propped up on some books on top of the desk, working on someway to get into the Internet. Aelita sat in Ulrich's desk chair, helping Jeremie as best as she could.

Surprisingly, the room was silent, except for the occasional exchange of words by Aelita and Jeremie, and the faint, quiet snores from Kiwi.

_Knock, knock. _Two faint knocks broke the silence. Odd glanced at Ulrich, and Ulrich shot a look of confusion at Yumi. Odd, being the closest to the dorm room door, got up and opened it. Sissi broke practically barged in once the door was unlocked. "Ulrich! Ulrich sweetie, I'm so happy your back!" She ran over to him, as him and Yumi stood up. Sissi wrapped her hands around his waste and hugged him. Ulrich, who was much in shock, just stood there, almost dumfounded. Yumi's heart began to beat a mile a minute, and began to heat up with anger. Ulrich came out of his shock, and pulled Sissi's arms off from his body.

"What do you think your doing, Sissi?" He questioned, as Yumi placed her hands on her hips, and stared menacingly at the principles daughter.

"Ulrich dear . . ." Sissi began.

"No. I'm not 'Ulrich dear,' not to you, Sissi. I never have been, never will be." Yumi smiled, as Sissi began to stutter.

"But . . . but . . . Ulrich, please, I'm just so happy you're back," she said, attempting to get him to feel sorry for her.

"Well, I know someone in this very room who is delighted that I'm back, and cares about me more than you _ever _will." He placed his hand around Yumi's waste, and Sissi's eyes widened.

"Oh! I knew she was no good! Stealing you from me! You have a lot of nerve, Yumi!"

"Excuse me? I think you are the one who has a lot of nerve!" Yumi was outraged.

"Oh really? How do you manage that thought?" The two girls were face-to-face, not even three inches away.

"You practically barge in here not even a week after Ulrich and I have returned to school, and you accuse me of taking him from you, when he _CLEARLY _never was! He told you that, and you just can't handle it! Face it; he loves me, _NOT _you! Now, there's the door, GO!"

"Well, if you weren't back in school, Ulrich would clearly be _mine. _He's just too shy to admit it!"

"Oh, well you know what?!–" This was starting to get to an extreme point, and the rest of the group realized it. Ulrich stood up and tried to prevent a possible catfight.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! Girls, stop!" When Yumi and Sissi showed no effort to refrain from their argument, Ulrich figured it was time to really step in.

He placed his hand on Yumi's shoulder, and gently pulled her away from Sissi. Sissi's face reddened with anger, and attempted to step closer to Ulrich and Yumi. Odd decided it was time for him to help too, so he stepped in front of Sissi. "Sissi! Stop it, just leave! You have no right coming here, and tormenting us! Go now, before I get really mad!" He pointed towards the door, and Sissi immaturely stuck her tongue out at Odd. Ulrich sat down on Ode's bed, placed his hands on Yumi's waste, and motioned for her to sit down too. When she did, he began talking to her in a soft voice.

"Yumes, what's the matter? You never get upset like this." A salty tear ran down Yumi's cheek, and Ulrich brushed it away.

"I . . . I don't know. I just want her to _stop!_ She's been terrorizing you _and _me since we first came to the school, and especially now that we're back, and together, and happy! I just want her to _leave us alone!_" she sobbed. Ulrich glanced at Sissi as she made her way to the door, scooted closer to Yumi on the bed, and placed his arms around her.

"It's ok, Yumi. Sissi won't be able to go anywhere near you, I promise, not if you don't want her too. She will leave me and you alone from now on, right, Sissi?" he asked, turning towards Sissi slightly.

"Fine, you win, Miss. Ishiyama! I'll stay away from you and your new _boyfriend_." She opened the door, and took one step out, before spinning on her heals. "Oh, just to let you know, me and William are throwing a 'Welcome Back' party tonight for you two," she said, pointing at Ulrich and Yumi. "Wait, let me clear that up for you so you don't get the wrong ideas. I wanted to throw a 'Welcome Back' party for Ulrich, _only for Ulrich, _and William wanted to throw a 'Welcome Back' party for Yumi, _only for Yumi,_ and so when we found out about each other's plans, we decided to combine them into one party. So, that's it, if you want to come to the party, be at William's dorm at 7:00 tonight. Everyone is invited. Goodbye." She walked into the hallway and shut the door behind her.

"So, are we going or not? There will be food there, I hope!" Odd questioned.

"Only Odd would mention food at a party at a time like this. Are we going to the party?" Aelita questioned with a slight chuckle in her voice.

"I think we should, how about you, Yumes?" Ulrich asked.

"Oh, why not? A party celebrating us and our return? We can't miss out!" Yumi said, as her and Ulrich stood up.

"Ok, well if we are all going, we have to get ready. Lunch will be in about 10 minutes, and since it's grilled cheese day, I don't want to miss out!" Odd said, rubbing his stomach and licking his lips.

"Do you ever stop thinking about food, Odd?" Jeremie asked.

"Nope!" The group broke out in laughter and went out of the dorm room to head to lunch.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey everyone! Sorry it took me soooooooo unbelievably long to update, I've been working on "The Perfect Summer" a lot! Well, here's chapter two, and chapter three's coming up very soon! **

**Hope you enjoy!**

Chapter 2

The party was in about an hour. The gang had agreed to meet back at Odd and Ulrich's dorm, after Yumi ate, and everyone got ready. The party was just what everyone needed to boost their spirits. Things hadn't been the same since Ulrich and Yumi returned, sure, they had gotten better, in terms of happiness, but there was an awkward silence every time one of them left the room. Also, they looked out for each other more than before. If someone took off for an unexplained reason, everyone went to investigate. Nothing would ever be the same between the group again, and everyone knew it.

Aelita and Jeremie were doing last minute calculations in Jeremie's dorm, and then Aelita went to go get dressed for the party. Jeremie, as much as he didn't want to take time away from his precious laptop, was coaxed by Aelita to dress up slightly, and go with her to the party.

Aelita pulled a pink top on over her white undershirt. She sighed, and pulled on a pink skirt on, which came to just under her kneecaps. Looking in her mirror of her vanity, she combed her fingers through her hair. Pulling out a star hairpin, she pinned her hair up just over her left ear. A knock broke the silence.

"Aelita, its Jeremie, can I come in?"

"Yeah, Jer." He opened the door, slid inside, and closed the door behind him. "Are you all ready for the party?"

"Yeah, I think." Aelita glanced at the bag hanging off of his shoulder, and saw the laptop poking out of the top.

"Jeremie, I told you to leave the laptop, we'll be at the party for a few hours. Thats it, just a few hours. Please, leave it here?" she said, putting on a puppy-dog pout face.

"Oh, alright," he said, as he placed the backpack on Aelita's desk. "But if there's a XANA attack, we're doomed," he commented sarcastically.

"Jer, the only way XANA's going to attack is if he gets through the Internet. I don't think that's going to be tonight. Please, forget about XANA, for one night. Let tonight be a fun night of music and dancing." Aelita took Jeremie's hand, and laced her fingers with his. He smiled, and turned so that he was facing Aelita. He grasped her other hand tightly.

"Ok, Aelita. I'll try to have fun. For you, Aelita." He reached into the bag on the desk, and pulled out a pink carnation.

"Oh, Jeremie! It's beautiful, and it matches my hair! Thank you!" Aelita took it with one hand, and put her other arm around Jeremie's neck, trapping him in a one-arm hug. She turned to look into the mirror, and put it in her hair, just above her right ear.

"I thought you would like it, Aelita. Should we go see if Odd and Sam are ready, since Ulrich and Yumi said it would be a little, because she had to go eat dinner?" Jeremie questioned, smiling at Aelita.

"Yeah, I'm sure that Odd and Sam are getting ready. Let's head over to their dorms." Aelita opened her dorm door, and locked it after Jeremie walked out. He paused, waiting in the hallway, surprised that there was no one in the hallway. Spotting the nearby water jug, Jeremie took one of the cups, and filled it with ice cold water. Aelita finished locking the door, and then began walking towards Odd's dorm.

Aelita knocked on the door of Odd and Ulrich's dorm room, and didn't get a response. She heard the sound of loud music blaring from Odd's stereo inside.

"Odd? Sam? You guys in there?"

No response, just music.

Aelita reached for the handle of the door, and found it unlocked. She turned it, and walked in. Jeremie followed.

From the angle that Aelita and Jeremie walked in on, they couldn't see Odd and Sam sitting on the end of Odd's bed. Jeremie closed the door behind him, and Aelita spun around, she almost chocked on her own spit. She jumped up, startling Jeremie slightly. He took a sip of water, and turned around. Seeing what lied in front of him, he spit out the water all over Aelita's shoulder.

Sam and Odd was on the bed. Well, actually, Sam was on Odd's lap, with her hands wrapped around his neck. Odd's left hand was on the back of Sam's head, and his other hand was finding its way down Sam's back. There lips were pressed tightly together, eyes closed. They hadn't apparently heard Aelita and Jeremie come in.

Aelita shrieked when she saw the scene in front of her. Jeremie gagged on the water that hadn't exited his mouth when he spit out the rest involuntarily. Odd and Sam stopped abruptly from kissing, and stared at one another for a second, slightly confused.

"What were you doing, you two?!" Aelita asked, slightly dazed. She partly didn't want to know the answer.

"I – we – we were . . ." Sam stammered. She glanced at Odd, and there faces went scarlet red.

"You're supposed to be getting ready for the party! It's in about forty-five minutes! Get your butts ready for that dance!" Aelita said, shaking her head. She grabbed Jeremie's hand and walked out of the room. Jeremie closed the door behind him, and Aelita paused.

"Sam hasn't left yet! She should be leaving to go get ready!" Aelita opened the door of the dorm again, and saw Odd and Sam kissing again. Anger rose inside of her. "YOU TWO!" she shouted, furious. Odd and Sam broke apart, and Sam blushed slightly. "AT THIS RATE, YOU'LL NEVER BE AT THE DANCE! CAN'T YOU SAVE _SOME_ FOR THE DANCE?" Aelita stormed out of the dorm, pulling Jeremie behind her. Sam came out of the dorm, glanced in Aelita's direction, and walked to her dorm to get changed.

**Meanwhile . . .**

Yumi placed her bowl in the sink, and washed off her chopsticks. Then, she headed upstairs to take a nice, warm bath before getting ready for the party. She reached the second step before hearing the doorbell ring.

_Ulrich, _she thought to herself.

She walked to the front door, and peered through the peek hole in the door. Sure enough, a brown haired kid stood there. She smiled, and opened the door.

"Hi, Yumi. Am I too early? I figured I'd give Odd and Sam a little while in the dorm. I walked in on them while they were kissing. Odd got a little mad at that," he said with a chuckle. Yumi smiled, and gestured for him to sit down. She closed the door, and turned around.

"No, you're fine, Ulrich. I was actually going to run upstairs and hop into the tub for a little before we go to the party. I havn't had a hot bath in a while, but now that you're back . . . I can give myself that time to relax." She smiled, and also slightly frowned at the same time.

"Okay, Yumes. Should I wait for you, or should I go back to the dorm?"

"You can wait here if you want. Then after, we can go over to the dorms, and you can get ready while I chat with Sam and Aelita." Ulrich smiled, and Yumi climbed the stairs. She headed into her room, picked out her outfit, and then headed to the bathroom.

She closed the door behind her, and locked it. The Japanese girl turned up the bathroom radio, and began to fill the tub with hot water. Yumi ran her comb through her hair one quick time, and then waited for the water to fill up. Once it was filled to her liking, she removed her clothes. As she sank into the hot water in the tub, she sighed. She could finally have some time to herself, rather than spending all of it being upset. She hadn't had decent alone time since Ulrich ran away. She closed her eyes, and let her mind run free.

Time seemed to fly by, because Yumi didn't even realize that she had been in the bathtub for almost a half hour.

_Knock, knock, knock. _

"Yumi, are you still in the bathtub? You've been in there for about twenty five minutes. We have to go to the party soon!" Ulrich said, as Yumi snapped back to reality. She opened her eyes, and looked around. She tried to see the time on her watch on the sink counter, but couldn't read the numbers. She pulled the plug out of the tub with her toes, and then grabbed a towel.

"Yeah, Ulrich. I'll be right out, I lost track of time." Yumi pulled on a black top that came just above her navel. It was sort of like her normal tops, but this one had more of a 'v' neck. It wasn't too low thought, since she didn't like very low-cut tops. Then, she pulled on a pair of her normal black pants. She ran a comb through her hair, and checked to make sure that her outfit was to her liking.

As she turned off the radio with the remote, she opened the door, and stepped out into the hallway. Ulrich was on the couch downstairs watching television. When he heard Yumi close the bathroom door, he turned the television off, and looked at Yumi.

"Like the outfit? Nothin' fancy, but I think its fine for this party," she said, spinning on her heals.

"Like it? It's perfect, I love it, Yumes." He started walking towards the stairs, and she started descending down the same stairs. They met halfway so that they were standing on different stairs, and smiled at each other. Ulrich climbed up one more step, so that he and Yumi were on the same stair. The kissed Yumi lightly on the lips and Yumi kissed back. She deepened the kiss, and placed her hands around Ulrich's neck. Ulrich put one hand around her back and one on her hip, and gently moved her closer to him, so that their bodies touched. Yumi could feel Ulrich's body warmth, and Ulrich could smell her fruity shampoo cent in her hair. Oh, how he loved that smell.

Ulrich and Yumi seemed to be frozen in a time warp, and after what seemed like forever, Yumi pulled back, due to lack of air. She breathed in through her nose, and Ulrich smiled at her. Yumi smiled back, and placed a kiss lightly on Ulrich's lips. He took the hint that Yumi sent to him, and deepened the kiss again. Ulrich didn't take a deep enough breath this time, so he had to pull away for air after only a few seconds. Ulrich removed his hands from Yumi's waste, and Yumi removed her hands from around Ulrich's neck. The couple smiled, grasped hands, and walked down the stairs.

Glancing at the Japanese clock on the wall, Yumi realized that the party would begin in about fifteen minutes. She glanced at Ulrich. "Ulrich, we have to go meet the rest of the group, it will be par-tay time in no time!" She shot a smile at Ulrich, and he took her hand in his, intertwining her fingers with his.

The world around was silent. The silence was broken when Ulrich unlatched the old, slightly rusted gate to Kadic. A nearby squirrel scampered up a tree, frightened at the squeaking hinges of the gate. Ulrich and Yumi looked in the direction of the squirrel, and then glanced at each other, smiling. They walked onto the school grounds, latching the gate behind them. Off they headed towards Ulrich and Odd's dorm, since it had been decided to meet there at about fifteen minutes before the dance.

Ulrich and Yumi snuck quietly up the flights of stairs, to the dorm. Aelita and Jeremie were outside the dorm, with smug looks on their faces. "Why aren't you guys inside?! If Jim sees us in party clothes, he'll get suspicious and investigate!" Ulrich questioned, as Aelita rolled her eyes slightly.

"We're stuck outside until Odd finishes changing, since we had a little bit of a _delay_," she said, motioning to Sam, who was walking towards them.

"What type of a _delay_?" Yumi questioned. Sam realized what Aelita was talking about, and spun on her heals, attempting to escape away, in embarrassment.

"Get back here, Sam!" Aelita turned to the bewildered Ulrich and Yumi. "Jeremie and I went to go see if they were ready for the party, and the door was unlocked when I knocked, so we went in. But, we walked in on Sam and Odd kissing, with the music blaring. They didn't see us, either, so they never stopped. They had been in the dorm for at least a good half-hour before we went in, so Jer and I believed that they must be ready. Well, we were mistaken." Sam blushed, and Odd opened the door, dressed in a purple shirt similar to his regular one, but had the word 'Party!' on the front, and a pair of his purple pants.

"Huh? Did I hear my name? Hmm?" Odd questioned, as he exited the dorm room doorway, closing the door behind him.

"Yeah, Odd. We learned about your kissing episode earlier, when you were _supposed _to be getting ready!" Ulrich said, as Sam blushed even more. Jeremie checked his watch.

"Guys, it's five-of-seven, and I don't think that we should be late for the party? Everyone agree?" Jeremie asked, as the rest of the group nodded. Aelita took Jeremie's hand, Odd took Sam's, and Ulrich laced his fingers around Yumi's fingers, and they all marched in a two-by-three group to William's room for the party.

"This is gonna be fun!" Yumi whispered into Ulrich's ear.

**Well, there it is! Please, read and review, flames are accepted! **

**I'm not sure where I want this plot to go exactly, but I'm sure there is going to be a lot, and I mean A LOT of UlrichxYumi-ness, with a dash of OddxSam-ness, and a pinch, (might turn into more later on!) of AelitaxJeremie-ness. Please, review, let me know how YOU, my faithful readers, want this story to go! **

**It's up to you to tell me either in a review or a PM of how you want this to go!!! **

**Hey, and if I get a lot of good ideas, I'll try to include as many as possible! Oh, and don't worry, if you give me great ideas that I use, I'll definitely recognize YOU for giving me the idea! **

**SO, please, TELL ME HOW YOU WANT IT TO GO! I AM VERY FLEXIBLE ABOUT THIS PLOT! **

**Chapter Three will be up very soon! **


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The blaring music could be heard from many dorms away. It was surprising that Jim hadn't found out about the little 'Welcome Back!' party for Ulrich and Yumi. Rumor had it that he was passed out in a deep sleep on his couch reading his wrestling magazine in the gym. How he could _not _hear the music was beyond many people.

As the group approached the door, Yumi and Ulrich couldn't help but grin. After all, this party _was _based _**entirely**_on _them_Them and their happy return.

Jeremie knocked on the door three times. William and Sissi answered the door.

"Ulrich dear!" Sissi's annoying voice whined, pushing through the others like they weren't even there. Ulrich cringed at the name, and Yumi balled her hands into fists.

"Sissi, _don't ever _call me that!" Ulrich said, speaking through his teeth. Sissi smiled.

"But Ulrich, you _know_ that you _love_ me calling you that! I can see it twinkle in you eyes!" Sissi moved closer to Ulrich, gazing into his eyes.

"Sissi, you must be blind then. What you see in my eyes is hatred for that name, and love for –"

"Your love for me? Hmm, Ulrich? Come on, admit it Ulrich! You fancy me!" Sissi interrupted. Yumi became furious.

"Sissi! Stop it! Leave him alone! He's not at the party with _you_, he's with _ME_! Me! His girlfriend! Can't you just leave him alone for _one_ night so that we – me and him – can enjoy a party based on us!?"

This hit Sissi hard, almost as hard as an anvil on her foot. She was speechless, dumbfounded, and completely dazed. The spoiled teen lowered her head in slight shame, and pointed to the party, muttering under her breath. Aelita and Jeremie nodded to the completely puzzled William who was lingering in the doorway as they passed into the party. Sam glanced at Odd, and he put his arm around her waste, entering the very crammed party. As Yumi and Ulrich entered the party, they were amazed at how many people were there. William and Sissi had moved all the furniture to the perimeter of the room, leaving a big dance floor. Sissi followed the duo in, and William closed the door behind him.

The party was huge. There had to be at least fifty-some-odd kids crammed in the dorm. Granted, William had a medium sized dorm, but that's still a lot of people. There were some of Ulrich's friends, like Emily, Milly and Tamiya; there were also some of Sissi and William's friends.

Sissi glanced at William, and he nodded her head. "One . . ." she whispered, holding up one finger. "Two . . . Three!" William pulled a rope concealed near the door. A rolled up banner reading "Welcome Back!" in colorful colors opened from the ceiling, spraying confetti into the air and onto the partiers. The group whooped and cheered, clapped, and turned to look at the center of attention, Ulrich and Yumi, who were in the center of the dance floor. Yumi's face lit up with a smile, and Ulrich put his arm around Yumi.

William nodded to Sam, then to the turntable music stereo on William's desk. Sam smiled, and just on cue, started DJ-ing the dance, starting with her favorite pop song.

Aelita turned to Jeremie, grasped both of his hands, and asked him to dance with her. Jeremie refused.

"Aelita, you know I can't dance. I'll watch you dance, but I can't dance!" Jeremie said, sitting on the bed. Aelita was slightly sad.

"But Jeremie, please?" she said, with her best please puppy-dog eyes. "Pretty please with sugar on top and chocolate syrup and all the sprinkles in the world will you dance with me? You don't even have to dance, just get out on the floor and move your body!" Aelita tugged on his hands slightly.

"Aelita, I can't dance." He smiled, and glanced over in Odd's direction, seeing that he was on the dance floor by himself, watching Sam. "Look at Odd, he seems so . . . alone. Why don't you go dance with Odd? He loves to dance."

Aelita glanced over to Odd, and turned back to Jeremie. "Jeremie, I want to dance with _you_. _You_," she repeated. "Won't you care that I'm dancing with Odd? Won't it bother you?"

"No, Aelita. I give you my say to dance with Odd, because I know that it means nothing, and that it's just because I'm a horrible dancer. It won't bother me, and me, you, Odd, Sam, Ulrich, Yumi, and everyone else here knows that it means nothing, just a dance between friends." He took her hands and stood up. "Aelita, I really like you, and you know that." He smiled, and Aelita blushed to match her pink hair.

"I know, and I like you too." She leaned in, and placed a kiss on his lips. He blushed, and motioned towards Odd. She waved, and went to go dance with Odd.

**Meanwhile . . . **

Ulrich and Yumi were in the corner of Williams's room, enjoying some alone time. Everyone else but them and Jeremie were dancing. Even William and Sissi were dancing together in the center of the floor.

Sam let the pop song end, before grabbing the mini-microphone off of the DJ table. Tapping it slightly, she made sure that it had a little sound, but not enough to arouse suspicion in any adults who might be on the next floor. Everyone knew that if you were anywhere near this floor that you would be able to hear the music. After all, a party is never a party without loud music, right?

After making sure that the microphone worked, she began a small speech.

"Hello, everyone. I'm sure that we all know why we are gathered here tonight in this slightly-small dorm together. We're here to celebrate the happy re-admittance of Ulrich and Yumi back to Kadic." She paused, and waved at Ulrich and Yumi in the corner. They smiled happily. "Will you two come up here, please?" Sam questioned, her voice echoing all around the small room.

The party-goers clapped, before letting Sam get back to her speech. "About two months ago, two months and eight days to be exact, Ulrich all left us abruptly from the school and disappeared somewhere in the city. Of course, everyone was shaken by his disappearance. But, no one was shaken as much as Miss Ishiyama." Sam gestured to Yumi, who blushed slightly. "Yumi was so confused and saddened by this that she was forced to leave school. The next part of my speech I feel that Aelita should tell, since she was the only one who Yumi would talk to. Will you take over for now, Aelita?" Aelita nodded her head, and walked up to the DJ equipment.

"Being one of her closer friends, I learned that she had been locking herself in her room for the whole day, only to open the door to receive the food that her mother would drop off on her bedroom doorstep. Being slightly stubborn, she would only eat only the foods that she asked for, which mostly was fattening. She didn't care anymore, her mind told her that she had no reason to get up in the morning. She would stare at Ulrich's photo on her nightstand, and weep all day long. Then, one day, Odd received a phone call that changed her life forever. Her life, Ulrich's life, and everyone else's lives as well." Ulrich's grasp tightened slightly around Yumi's hand. "Odd, would you like to take over now?"

Odd smiled, nodded, and took the microphone from Aelita. "Eight days ago, I recieved a phone call from Ulrich from another cell phone, apparently he switched cell phone numbers so that we couldn't reach him. Well, he called me, and he explained to me what happened the day he ran away, how he freaked after misinterpreted something, and how he grabbed his most prized possessions. Well, he didn't take all of his prized things, as he left behind one certain person at the center of what he misinterpreted," Odd winked at Yumi, and continued. "Then, Ulrich told me of how he ran as far as he could, and ended up staying at a hotel somewhere downtown for two months. How he pulled that off, he never told me. Well, I ran to Aelita and Jeremie were, and put the next phone call on speaker. Ulrich got really freaked when we told him that we were all there except for Yumi. He panicked, thinking the worst had happened. So, we worked together, the three of us, to coax him into coming back. It worked, and so the next day, Aelita went to Yumi's, and magically coaxed her into coming to the park," Odd slightly lied. He, and the gang, knew that he stretched the story places slightly, knowing that in reality, he ran to the _factory,_ not to Aelita and Jeremie, necessarily, and Aelita ended up coaxing Yumi into coming to the _factory,_ not the park. Well, the fate of XANA and the world depended on them keeping their secret a secret, so they intended to keep it a secret no matter what. "We all surprised Yumi very much when she walked around the path corner and saw Ulrich standing there. And so, here we are, only eight days later, celebrating their return to school. Everyone wishes them well, especially us." Aelita placed her left arm on Jeremie's shoulder, and her right one on Odd's, whose arm was around Sam's waste tightly, and everyone smiled. A bright light suddenly broke the slightly dim room, and fell upon Ulrich and Yumi, who were now in the middle of the dance floor. Ulrich's hand was around Yumi's waste, and her hand was on his far shoulder. They looked up, and saw that William must have installed a temporary spotlight.

Sam began playing the music again, but this time with a slow song. Everyone moved to the perimeter of the room as best as possible, exempting Ulrich and Yumi. Every pair of eyes was upon them, the center of the party, literally. Ulrich held out his hand, and Yumi took it without thinking more than a second. Then, he placed one hand on her waste, and she placed her other hand on his shoulder. They began dancing graciously across the carpeted floor, and Ulrich spun Yumi on her heels, catching her at the end. They danced as if they had practiced countless times before, which they hadn't. Some dances just come naturally, they guessed. Just as the song was ending, Yumi and Ulrich finished off perfectly with a series of fast spins, and Ulrich catching her in his arms, reclining her slightly. The room clapped, and cheered them on for a stunning performance. Sam switched the song to a faster hip-hop type song.

The rest of the part went by quite smoothly. The rest of the night up until 10:00 (anywhere past this would have been pushing getting caught and punished by Jim), was filled with dancing, chatter, and loud music.

At five-of ten, William and Sissi gave a "thank-you-for-coming" speech, and everyone gathered up their things, said "good luck" to Ulrich and Yumi, and went to their dorms. Ulrich, Yumi, Odd, Jeremie, Aelita, and Sam were the last people to leave Williams dorm, after helping to clean up after the mess. Sissi had left at ten o'clock on the dot, saying that if her father found out about her being out of her dorm that night, she'd be in deep trouble, hence leaving the seven of them to clean up the mess.

As the gang left, Aelita and Jeremie headed to their dorms, Odd to his, and Ulrich decided to walk Yumi home, even though he was seriously risking being discovered that he was gone.

The moonlight was beautiful. It shone in all places for all to see. As Ulrich walked Yumi home, they took the long route through the park, stopping at the pond edge. Finally, Yumi was safely home, thanked Ulrich for walking her home, as he kissed her in return. She unlocked the door quietly, and slid inside, discovering that her parents, thankfully, were sleeping. She raced silently up the stairs, and slid into her neat, untouched bed. She had the most wonderful night.


	4. Chapter 4

**Alright, for all of you readers who have wanted this, I have finally finished chapter four! It is my longest chapter I have ever written, (fifteen pages long typed on Microsoft Word)!!! **

**Hope everyone enjoys this (long) chapter! **

Chapter 4

The gang was at their usual bench in the usual spot on the side of the soccer field, waiting for Odd, like most mornings. While talking about last night's party at William's dorm, Sam saw an average looking boy with blonde spiky hair and a purple spot in the middle bouncing towards them.

"Odd!" She shouted, running to him and hugging him like there was no tomorrow.

"What, Sam? What's wrong?" he questioned, as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Oh, nothing, I just missed you since yesterday. I had a great time at the party."

"So did I."

The school's warning bell sounded, signaling that classes are soon to begin. Odd let out a groan, and flopped back down on the bench. He, Jeremie, Aelita, and Ulrich had double-science first thing Monday morning, which Odd and Ulrich hated equally. Sam waved good-bye to the group, and walked off to the library. She absolutely loved having study hall first period on Mondays, especially since there was always almost no one there, she could do whatever she wanted.

Yumi smiled at Ulrich, said goodbye, and walked towards the park, as the easiest way to get to her History class was through the woods. She just hoped that William wasn't waiting for her again; she really hates that when he does.

Jeremie, Aelita, Odd, and Ulrich walked towards the science building, and Odd began opening the door as Jeremie's laptop began going ballistic in his bag. They sat on the steps as Jeremie looked at the screen, and shut off the annoying beeping signal.

"Guys, get ready to miss double-science, XANA's attacking! We have to get to the factory; he's activated a tower in the Forest sector. Ulrich, call Yumi. Meet us there as soon as possible," Jeremie said, closing up his laptop and placing it back into his bag. He, Aelita, and Odd set off towards the factory.

As Odd was following the others, he suddenly felt a weird rush come over him. He felt as if his brain twitched, but didn't think anything of it, since it may just be because of a sugar rush. Normal Odd behavior, he suspected. But, what he didn't know was his eyes changed. Not noticing, the three continued to the factory.

Ulrich pressed the "1" button on his cell phone, and "Speed Dial: Yumi's Cell" popped up on the screen. Will you look at that? His own parents aren't even numbers one and two on his speed dial! That shows some major commitment towards Yumi.

**Meanwhile . . . **

Yumi walked through the woods, and as she approached where the path forks into two paths, she smirked. She didn't see William waiting for her, leaning against the tree, like he normally does.

_Maybe he's finally gotten it through his head that I'm never going to fall for him._

Yumi walked down the left path, towards her class. Suddenly and unexpectedly, she heard something coming from the right path.

"Hey, what the . . . Dude, no, hey! Ouch! What the heck? Leave me alone!" The Japanese girl stopped in her tracks, and thought to herself. She couldn't pick out the voice quickly, but it sounded familiar. Whoever it was, she knew they were in trouble. She sprinted back down the left path, and when she reached the fork, she ran down the right path about forty feet before coming to an abrupt stop.

In front of her were a man and a black haired boy who she recognized as William. The man was grabbing William by the arm, trying to drag him off into the woods. William was simply trying to talk the guy out of whatever he was trying to do. The guy, still hanging on to William's upper arm, spun William around so that his back was in front of the strange man, and grabbed his wrist.

Yumi stood stunned. The guy didn't even seem to notice she was there, or really didn't care that much. It finally occurred to Yumi what was going on after some observation. The man, for one reason or another, was trying to kidnap William. Why, she wasn't sure.

_I've got to help him; I can't just leave him out here like nothing's going on, _Yumi thought, the nicer side of her taking over.

She dropped her school books in the grass, and fast-walked up behind the stranger. She preformed a simple ankle-hook, snaking her ankle around the man's, and spinning, hence sending the man off balance, falling to the side. Yumi smirked to herself, but right as the man was going to hit the ground, he seemed to disappear, leaving dark black smoke hovering in the air.

Yumi's eyes began to bug out, as she realized that the man was no man at all, but must be a polymorphic clone, sent by XANA.

_Oh great. That's all I need, is a polymorphic clone on my tail. Well, I've got a fight on my hands, now. I've got to finish it, as best as possible without hurting me or William. _

The clone regained its composition form as the man again, and stared at Yumi for a second. She could see in its eyes the little XANA symbol, thinking to herself how stupid she could be for not thinking to check if it was a clone.

William, who had landed on the ground after being released from the clone's grip, stood up, dazed at what was going on. He turned to look at Yumi, who was in a classic fighting stance, fists raised in the air.

The clone became the black smoke-like substance, and drifted quickly behind Yumi and William. It became the form of the man again, and attacked Yumi before she could turn around. It kicked her hard in the middle back, forcing her to fall downward, colliding with the hard ground. It then went over to William, who was standing there with a blank expression, roughly the same expression he always has. The clone grabbed William's hands from the front of him, and forcefully shoved him backwards, sending him into a tree.

Yumi took a deep breath, placed both her hands on the ground, and forced herself to get up, even if she virtually couldn't. Once standing and regaining strength, she was ready to attack again.

_Alright. Not to bad, yet, although, William doesn't look all that good. But I've got to stop this polymorphic clone! Now, just like in practice, with Ulrich. Go!_

She went behind the clone, and positioned herself so that her body was facing the clone's back. She crouched low to the ground, placing one hand on the ground, and extending her right leg. At rapid speeds, she spun around, knocking the clone down to the ground.

This time, the clone wasn't prepared, and landed on the ground with a loud _thud. _But, given the excessive strength and power that clones have, the clone jumps up, landing on its feet. Now, it and Yumi were in identical fighting stances.

Yumi's eyes briefly glanced in William's direction, and she saw that he was stirring slightly under the tree. She thought she could see a spot on his skull where it looked like a big bump was forming, though.

Taking her eyes off of the clone was a bad idea, however. He launched himself towards Yumi, sending her flying down the path, right towards a large rock. Having the wind knocked out of her due to the force, she was immobilized as her body smashed into the rock. Upon impact, she began losing consciousness, as she felt several small trickles of blood run down her face. She laid motionless, sprawled out on the cold ground.

**Meanwhile during all of this . . . **

"Come on, Yumi, pick up! Where are you!" Ulrich said out loud, still waiting for Yumi to pick up on the other line.

**Back with Yumi . . .**

Yumi could feel her phone vibrate in her pocket, right as blackness took over her mind, and she went unconscious.

**With Odd, Jeremie, and Aelita . . . **

The trio had reached the factory. Jeremie pushed the button to the elevator, and everyone climbed aboard when the doors revealed the inviting elevator. Aelita walked over to the number panel on the wall, and keyed in the numbers to go to the supercomputer room.

Odd walked over to the back, where he felt his body, especially his eye, twitch again. He ignored it, still unsure why it was twitching. He could swear that one section of his head felt weird, but he thought it was because of the slightly bad school food. Who knows what's really in their meatloaf? Odd figured that it was indeed because of the bad food that he inhales like there is no tomorrow.

When the elevator reached the supercomputer floor, Jeremie bounded for the chair. He placed the microphone headset on his head, and looked at the Holomap. He shook his head slightly, typed something on the computer screen, and turned to Aelita and Odd at the elevator.

"Get down ot the scanners, XANA's already sent out five hornets and a crabbe," he said, spinning the big chair back around so that he faced the computer. Odd and Aelita stepped backward back into the elevator, and Aelita pressed the code to go down to the Scanners room below.

The elevator doors closed, and the elevator began to move. When it reached the scanners room, Odd ran to the first scanner and Aelita to the one across from it.

"We're ready, Jeremie," she called up.

"Alright, starting the process! Scanner – Aelita, scanner – Odd . . . Transfer – Aelita, transfer – Odd . . . Virtualization!"

Aelita and Odd's virtual forms appeared on the Holomap, and they fell to the ground, each landing on their feet. As on cue, the Hornets swarmed over shooting at the duo. The Krabbe's weren't far behind. Odd dropped on all-four's and began running towards the Hornets, shooting at them when he came close. Odd felt a laser hit his right arm, and sure enough, a Krabbe hit him in that spot.

"Odd, you're down twenty life points!" He glanced over to Aelita's position on the holomap, and realized that she was being surrounded by three Krabbes. "Protect Aelita! She's trapped!" He called, as Odd spun around in Aelita's direction. Aelita was being forced farther away by the three Krabbes,

"Uh, sure Jer, but one problem: I can't run to her that fast, I need my vehicle!" Odd said, as he hit a Hornet square in the head with a laser arrow, killing it.

"Sure, Odd. Give me a minute . . ." Jeremie typed something on the keyboard, and soon enough, Odd's overboard virtualized. He ran to it, jumped in the air, did a flip, and landed on the overboard. He still had one Hornet to kill.

He fired at it viciously, until one laser arrow finally killed it. He turned the overboard around to Aelita's direction, and sure enough, she was running out of power. She had her shield, but it wasn't strong enough, so she was still being hit very much.

"Odd! Get to Aelita! She's down to forty life points! Two more hits and, well you know. Go!" Jeremie shouted into the microphone.

"Alright, Einstein. Wild cat on a mission to save Princess, over and out." Jeremie rolled his eyes, and placed his hand on the keyboard, checking something.

Odd zoomed over to Aelita, stopped the Overboard in mid-air, and jumped off of it onto a Krabbe's head. He aimed at the XANA sign, and shot three laser arrows into the Krabbe. He back flipped onto the overboard, and controlled it down to the ground near Aelita.

Suddenly and inconspicuously, he felt a weird sensation come over himself again. He felt strange, like he had before on Earth when he twitched the few times.

His mind went blank and dark, and he fired at Aelita. Aelita was hit twice, lessening her life point total to thirty. Jeremie was shocked, and so was Aelita.

Aelita drew her shield, and tried to protect herself from Odd and the two remaining Krabbes. "Jeremie! Jeremie!" she called into the skies of Lyoko. "Jeremie! Odd's attacking me! What's wrong with him?" she asked.

"I – I don't know! I can't get a hold of Ulrich, either! I've been trying his cell! Aelita, use your energy balls to try to destroy the Krabbes. I've got a plan, its daring, but it might work. It's our only hope," he told her, and she obeyed. He typed a few numbers into the Supercomputer, and a phone number appeared on the screen. The screen showed that he was calling none other than Sam.

**In class . . . **

_Why do these lectures always take forever and are so – _

Sam stopped her thought as she felt her pocket vibrate. She sat up, and pulled her cell phone out of her pocket. Checking the caller ID, she saw it was Jeremie. She pressed the "answer" button, and placed the phone up to her ear. Good thing the teacher was slightly deaf in ways, and she sat in the back near the noisy heater.

"Hello? Jeremie?"

"Yeah, Sam. Listen, we've got a problem. I can't explain now, its too complicated. Can you get out of class?" he questioned, hopefully.

"Yeah, of course. Why?"

"Just come to the old abandoned factory that's behind the park, I'll meet you in the elevator. Okay?"

"Sure, but – "

"Just hurry!" he said, ending the call. She closed her phone, and placed it back in her pocket, standing up and raising her hand.

"Sir, may I go to the infirmary? I'm not feeling well back here," she lied.

"I guess, Ms. Larson. If it's a must," he said, wondering to himself why students always leave in his class. Easy answer, it's boring. Duh.

"Yes sir." She gathered her things, and walked outside, heading for the old factory like Jeremie told her to do.

**Meanwhile outside Science . . . **

"Oh Yumi, where are you? Why don't you pick up?" Ulrich questioned out loud, after getting her voicemail for the third time.

_Something's up, I've got to go find her. _

He ran into the park, following the path that would lead to her class. As he approached the fork in the path, he started to the left path, but then heard what sounded like a maniacal laugh coming from the right.

He sprinted up the path cautiously, and stopped when he saw what was ahead about twenty feet. William was in a sloppy fighting stance, with an expression of fear smeared across his face. In front, was a middle-aged man with a white beard.

The man launched himself at William, who easily collapsed. Ulrich's heart panicked when he saw what was blocked by the man before. In front of a large rock was his beloved Yumi, spralled out, with blood running down her face.

He jumped forward, and ran to Yumi. He held her hand in his cold palms, asking her to speak to him. Of course, like he feared, she didn't. He moved her black silky hair off of her shoulder, and placed two fingers on her neck, trying to check for a pulse. Luckily and surprisingly, since he didn't know that much about medicine, he found a weak pulse.

Too preoccupied by Yumi, Ulrich didn't notice the man was behind him, until it was too late. The man whacked Ulrich hard with a heavy log, too big for a normal man to hold, Ulrich noticed. As he fell to the ground beside Yumi, he looked into the man's eyes. Sure enough, he could see the symbol that meant he was either possessed by XANA, or he was a clone. Which one, Ulrich wasn't sure of.

Ulrich stood up, and took his place in a classic martial arts stance, and fought the old man. As he kicked the old man in the chest and he fell back, he knew that the man was a polymorphic clone, because he seemed to dematerialize completely, into black smoke.

After what seemed like forever, Ulrich had finally managed to defeat the clone, with slight help from William. He could have taken the clone by himself, but he also had to protect Yumi and keep checking on her.

He looked himself over searching for wounds, and realized that he, luckily, only had a few bruises and bumps. William, on the other hand, had slipped out of consciousness with many cuts and scrapes, caused from being launched and thrown at trees.

Ulrich ran over to Yumi, and checked her pulse again. He took her hand in his, and felt around her neck, searching for a pulse. He found an even weaker pulse, and also discovered that she had a pretty big cut on the back of her head, which was the cause of the blood. She also had a cut on her hairline on her forehead, and a few cuts and bruises up her arms. He couldn't tell about her legs, since she was wearing her normal long black pants.

He scooped her up bridal style, and carried her out of the park. He didn't even think twice about William, he's sure someone would find him in a little while.

Once he reached the nearest hospital, he dashed inside the emergency room. Doctors met him inside, upon seeing how much blood was coming from her head, and what had been soaked up in Ulrich's T-shirt where her head rested on his arm. He hadn't realized it, but he had a fairly large circle of blood on his shirt.

The doctors shouted all their doctor-talk, and soon, a nurse came with a rolling stretcher-bed type thing. They told Ulrich to put her on the bed, and to follow them. He obeyed, and answered all their questions along the way, including "what happened."

Unsure what he should say, since it would sound totally unrealistic if he said "I went searching for her, since I couldn't get a hold of her by cell phone, and when I found her, she had been attacked by a polymorphic clone. I had to fight it off, and now I'm here, and my friend is dying," he paused momentarily.

"Too shocked to speak?" one of the doctor's questioned.

They had reached the hospital room. A nurse wheeled the bed inside, and began turning on the machines.

"Well, um, yes. See, this is my _best _friend, and I am just so worried about her," he said, stroking her face with his hand gently.

"Oh, well, when you're finally ready to tell us what you know, it would be helpful," The doctor said, as he inserted an IV into Yumi's right wrist. One of the nurses left to go get something, and another nurse preformed other tests on Yumi, and soon, stats were being shown on the big machines on the right of Yumi's bed.

"So, kid, what's your name? I would feel better if I addressed you as your name, instead of 'kid.' I have a son around your age, and he absolutely _hates _being called 'kid,'" the doctor said, looking at Ulrich. Ulrich, still holding Yumi's hand in his, sat in a nearby armchair, and placed his other hand on top of her hand.

"Ulrich Stern, I'm a student at Kadic Academy, a few streets away," Ulrich said, never taking his eyes off of Yumi.

_She looks so beautiful, even when she has blood all over her, _he thought, gazing at her face.

The nurse that had left returned, with a clipboard in hand. She handed it to the doctor, before tending to the blood on Yumi's face. Paperwork, Ulrich assumed.

"Ok, Mr. Stern. Let's see . . ." He looked down at the papers on the clipboard. "What's your friends' name?"

"Yumi Ishiyama," he said, watching the nurse intently on her motions as she cleaned up the blood on Yumi's face.

"Age and grade?" the doctor questioned, raising an eyebrow in Ulrich's direction.

"She's fourteen, grade nine." The doctor filled in the information.

"Where did you find her?"

The questions went on and on, for what seemed like hours. Each response from Ulrich became harder to speak, as he watched her heart rate go down with each passing moment.

As her heart rate lessened, his grip on her hand tightened. He wasn't sure what was happening to her, and he was too afraid to ask.

**Back in the park . . . **

Jim was out for his daily patrol of the park, and all seemed fine.

He strolled through the winding paths, humming some weird disco song, occasionally doing little dance moves.

As he came a little farther into the park, about halfway through, he came to the fork in the path. He decided to go left, first. After, he figured, he'd double back, and check the right side.

Jim made his way up the path, and about forty feet down, he could see something, or someone, sprawled out, leaning against a tree. He picked up the pace, and huffed as he jogged closer. When he got close enough, he could see that it was William Dunbar who was sprawled out in front of the tree.

He bent down next to William, and shook his shoulders, trying to get him to budge. Upon receiving no response what-so-ever after three or four shakes, Jim concluded that William was unconscious. He checked his pulse, and thankfully, found a strong one.

Jim scooped William up in his arms, and noticed just how many bruises and cuts were along William's body. The worst, as far as he could see, was a long cut running right below his right shoulder down to about his elbow. It seemed to be healing well, most of the bleeding had stopped, but Jim was still worried. He struggled to pull out his cell phone, muttering to himself about how he should have gotten it before he picked William up.

He called the hospital emergency room, sadly having the number on speed-dial nine. The phone rang twice, before someone picked up.

"Jacobson Hospital, emergency room secretary Jenna speaking, what's the emergency?" the woman spoke quickly.

"Uh, hello, this is Jim Morales, from Kadic Academy, I've found a student who's pretty badly bruised and has several cuts, the most severe running down his right arm." Jim began walking out of the park, balancing the phone between his ear and shoulder, while still carrying William.

"Ok, Mr. Morales, do you need us to send an ambulance? Or would you rather just have doctors ready at the hospital for you?" she asked, calmly.

"No, no, I can carry the child to the hospital; it's only a few streets away. But, I would appreciate it if a doctor could meet me out of the emergency room entrance," Jim said as he began jogging out of the park.

"Alright, sir, we will have a doctor ready for your arrival." Jim pressed the 'end' button on the phone, as he reached the back doors of the Kadic grounds. Unlocking the padlock, he closed the door with his foot behind him, and it shut firmly behind him. He sprinted up the street, took a left, then a right, and ran down Jacobson Street, towards the hospital.

Jim was almost out of breath by the time he reached the driveway to the hospital. He stopped for a moment, to catch his breath. Then, he broke into a sprint again, around the back side of the large building, where he saw the "EMERGENCY ROOM" sign on the wall. Below it, there were two men dressed in all white coats, with a stretcher bed.

"Are you Jim Morales?" the younger, blonde haired one asked.

"Yes . . . yes I am," Jim answered in between huffs and puffs. For a gym teacher, he sure could get worn out quickly.

"Alright, please lay the young man on the bed here, and we'll put him in room 219. Would you like to come with us?" the other doctor asked.

"No, no, I have to get back to the Academy, Mr. Delmas, the principal, doesn't know about Mr. Dunbar. I have to go let him know, I didn't have time to call him and let him know."

"Ah, Mr. Dunbar, is his name?" the younger doctor asked.

"Yes, William Dunbar. I have to go now. Call me or Mr. Delmas at the academy with an update on his condition, please." Jim turned, and began to walk back to the school. Running, or even jogging, for that matter, was out of the question. The doctors wheeled William through the big doors, and to the elevator.

As they reached the destination floor, the doors opened and the doctors wheeled William down the hall to room 219. One of the doctors paged some nurses using the call button on the bed, and within a minute, two nurses appeared. They preformed tests, filled out as much paperwork as they could at the time being, and concluded that William was indeed just unconscious due to a head injury, and he would make a full recovery in a few days, a week tops.

**At the factory meanwhile . . . **

Sam had arrived at the old abandoned factory, and Jeremie, like he said, told her briefly about Lyoko when they reached the Supercomputer room. She was still confused, but he told her that she has to get to Lyoko. She followed Jeremie's orders, and proceeded down the ladder that leads to the scanners room.

Once below, she heard Jeremie call to her on the microphone system.

"Ok, Sam, now step into one of the cylinder chambers, those are the scanners."

She cautiously stepped inside, and turned around, so she was facing the opening. But, the door didn't stay open for long, since Jeremie began the process.

"Scanner – Sam . . ." Sam closed her eyes in shock and fear, feeling a weird breeze-like wind fill the scanner. "Transfer – Sam . . . Virtualization!" Sam felt a cold, sharp wind blast from the bottom of the scanner, and she felt weightless. That's because . . . she had been transferred to Lyoko successfully, hovering in the air while the process finished.

Then, as soon as it finished, she dropped to the ground, landing on her feet, luckily enough. She stood slowly up, looking at herself, amazed at what she saw. She was wearing a red short skirt, with black boots. Her top was a red and black checker pattern, with only one strap, on her left shoulder. Her hair was black with red streaks running through the front at both sides.

"Welcome to Lyoko, Sam. Aelita's northwest of you. I'll virtualize a vehicle for you, I think I know the best one for you." Jeremie typed a few things on the keyboard, and waited. A few seconds later, a smaller version of the Overboard appeared, but with black and red stripes running diagonally on it.

"Sweet Jeremie!" Sam said, as she jumped on the Overboard. Just like Odd, she could do numerous tricks on it within seconds. "Alright, northwest, you said?" She began heading in that direction.

"Yes, you should be able to see Aelita in a little while. She's surrounded by two of XANA's monsters, called Krabbes. You need to shoot them on the head in the symbol to kill them. Destroy them, and protect Aelita. I'll tell you what to do next after you do that."

"I'm on it! Wait! How am I supposed to kill them? Do I have a weapon?"

"Yes, see those two pouches on either side of your belt? They have palm-sized daggers in them, if you throw them at a monster, it will kill them. I've made it so that they spring back to where they were thrown, which would be helpful to you," Jeremie answered.

"Ok, thanks, Jeremie. This is all really cool!" She steered the Overboard towards Aelita, who she could now see. She hovered over one of the Krabbes, and tossed one dagger at the monster below. It hit right in the middle of the symbol, and then the monster blew up. Just like Jeremie said, the dagger sprang back, and Sam caught it, tossing it behind her back at the other Krabbe. It missed, but she threw the other one at it, which hit. She raised both hands, catching the daggers in her palms.

Odd shot and fired at Sam, rapid speed. She was confused, but remembered to get Aelita. She slowly glided past Aelita, who jumped onboard the overboard.

"Sam?" she asked, puzzled.

"Yeah, Aelita. Jeremie called me and told me all about this place, and that you needed help. Jeremie, what's next?"

"Aelita has to deactivate the tower, the tower is northeast, pretty far up."

Just then, Odd began firing even faster, and he hit Sam a few times.

"Jeremie! Odd's firing at me! What's wrong with him?" Sam called, dodging stray laser arrows.

"I have done some research, and I am sure that he's possessed by XANA. You have to protect Aelita, if she gets hit three times, she gets de-virtualized, and sent back to Earth, and we have no way of deactivating the tower, and saving the world. Try to get to the tower as quick as possible, I can't get a hold of Ulrich, but remember: _protect Aelita!" _he emphasized.

"Ok, Jeremie. We'll do our best!" Aelita called to Jeremie.

**Back in the Hospital . . . **

Ulrich had answered as many questions as he could for the doctor, and still was worried sick about Yumi. The doctor had left a while ago, but a nurse stayed in the room, since her heart rate and now blood pressure, was lessening by the moments. She was still at okay levels, but they were taking precautions. He never let go of her hand, and fiddled with her hair, twirling it and fixing it so that she was absolutely perfect.

Feeling a little hungry, he decided he needed food. He hadn't eaten since breakfast that morning.

"I'm going to go catch some lunch, I'll be back after," he told the nurse.

"Ok," was the simple quick response of the nurse.

As Ulrich stepped out of the hospital room, he overheard doctors speaking in the room across the hall.

"Yes, Mr. Dunbar is his name, he's a student at Kadic Academy," one doctor's voice said.

"Do you know any more information on the kid?" another voice questioned.

"No, just that," the first voice responded.

_Whoa, Dunbar? Someone must have found him. I should go see him, and maybe help the doctors with the paperwork. _

He knocked on the open door of room 219. One of the doctors, a young blonde male, turned around.

"Yes? May I help you?" he questioned.

"Um, actually, I was wondering if I could help you. See, I'm a student at Kadic as well, along with my friend who's across the hall. These two were injured in the same fight. I was hoping I could maybe help you with his information, I know a little about him, since he hangs around me and my friends a lot," Ulrich said.

"Sure, how about you come have a seat?" he asked. Ulrich took his seat in a folding chair diagonal from the doctor. "May I have your name?"

"Ulrich Stern."

"Ok, now, about Mr. Dunbar, how old is he?"

The same questions that had been asked for Yumi were asked for William, except for one question at the very end:

"Were these two individuals, your friend and Mr. Dunbar, injured in a fight _against _each other?"

"No, no, they were actually fighting the _same_ guy, someone who was trying to harm William and Yumi. I'm not sure who it was, though. I caught only a small glimpse of the guy," Ulrich said, slightly lying.

"Oh, well, thank you for –" A frantic beeping sound from across the hall stopped the doctor from speaking. Ulrich panicked, fearing the worst, and ran across the hall. Yumi's heart rate had dropped severely low, and doctors were running into the room.

"Wha – what's going on?" he managed to choke out.

"Her heart's failing; we've got to do emergency surgery! Go!" he shouted, yelling for the nurses to push the bed down the hall to the E.R. Ulrich followed quickly behind, but was told to wait in the E.R. wing in the little room attached to the E.R. that had a window. He could look through the little window, but couldn't go in.

His heart began racing, as he panicked, wondering what he would ever do if he lost Yumi. He finally got the bearings to call Jeremie. Even though cell phones aren't supposed to be used in hospitals, _this _was an emergency.

His fingers seemed to fly over the buttons, as he dialed the number for the blonde haired boy's cell. Jeremie had it on auto pick-up, so it was quick.

"Jeremie!" he shouted.

"Ulrich? What's wrong? I've been trying to contact you all day!" the brainiac said.

"Yeah, yeah, I know! I've been trying to help Yumi! She was injured by a polymorphic clone! I'm at the hospital, her heart's failing, and she's in surgery! She's dying! What's going on in Lyoko? The tower should have already been de-activated!" he shouted, watching the doctors begin the surgery. Her heart rate and all these other medical terms and stats were displayed on a big monitor, and her heart rate was still dangerously low.

"Odd's possessed by XANA, and I had to get Sam to come to the rescue, since I couldn't get a hold of you! Sam's in Lyoko trying to fight off Odd, which isn't doing so well. XANA gave him some new power that's making his laser arrows more effective, and faster."

"Well, tell them to hurry up! If Yumi dies, and we go back in time, she's still . . . gone. Please, Jer, tell them to _hurry up!" _

**In the factory / Lyoko . . . **

"Guys," Jeremie called. "Ulrich called, and Yumi's dying, her heart's failing. She can die any moment, so hurry up! Sam, if there are any fatalities, even if we go back in time, they won't come back!"

"Ok, Jeremie, I'm trying!" We're almost at the tower, but Odd's still on our tail!"

She jumped off of the Overboard, telling Aelita to control it. She walked slowly to Odd, who was walking towards her with a devilish look in his eyes. An eerie, wicked look.

_Let's see, what if he was only possessed a little? What if his brain was only possessed on one little section? I can still see the Odd who I love in his eyes, behind that awful symbol. I can tell he's there somewhere, how can I bring that part out though, and mask the possessed side? _Sam pondered, before something clicked to her.

"Odd," she said, taking small steps towards him. "Odd, I . . ."

He got ready to fire.

"Odd," she began again. "Odd, I . . ."

He raised his other arm. Both arms were ready to fire.

"Odd, I . . . I lo – I love you," she said calmly, looking deeply into his eyes.

Slowly, the symbol began to fade, and he lowered his arms. Actually, he lowered himself, as he collapsed on the ground of Lyoko. He had returned as himself.

"What?" he asked.

"I said I love you."

"You do?"

"Yes." She helped him up off of the ground, and they hugged. Aelita had brought Sam's overboard over, and cleared her throat loudly as a signal to them both.

"Hellooooo," she said, "we have a tower to deactivate, and a life to save!" she said, as Sam did a cartwheel onto her overboard. Odd did a back flip onto his, and they set off to the tower.

Once close to it, Aelita jumped off of Sam's overboard, and ran inside the tower. She slowed down in the center, where she waited to be lifted up in the air. A whoosh of cold air entered her veins, and she began feeling weightless as she floated up. She did a slow flip, before landing firmly on the top platform.

She walked over to the center, before placing her palm on the screen.

"AELITA," it displayed.

"CODE:"

**In the hospital: **

The surgery was underway, and Ulrich was worried sick, watching Yumi coming frighteningly close to flat-lining. Then, as if he had been whacked in the stomach hard, he panicked.

Yumi flat-lined.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" he screamed, at the top of his lungs. "NO!!!!!!! YUMI!!!!!!!!!" he cried.

**Ohhhh! Cliffie ending! What will happen? Is she gone? **

**Did everyone enjoy it? I hope! Ah, if you didn't, review anyway, please! **

**This is almost the end of this story! One more chapter after this, I think, and that will be all of this! I know, short, five chapters probably, but this chapter took me a while. It had so much in it, and it changed place a lot, so I kept re-ordering things. Please, tell me if it was any bit confusing. I really wanted to split this chapter into two parts, but couldn't really find a spot where I could do it without breaking the flow. **

**So, one more (short) chapter, I think. I promise, the next chapter won't be as long as this! **

**Read and review! This took me a while to write!**


	5. Chapter 5

_Previously . . . _

"_AELITA," it displayed. _

"_CODE:" _

_**In the hospital: **_

_The surgery was underway, and Ulrich was worried sick, watching Yumi coming frighteningly close to flat-lining. Then, as if he had been whacked in the stomach hard, he panicked. _

_Yumi flat-lined. _

"_NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" he screamed, at the top of his lungs. "NO!!!!!!! YUMI!!!!!!!!!" he cried._

Chapter 5

"LYOKO."

"Tower deactivated," Aelita said, lowering her head slightly.

A white light swallowed all of Lyoko and Earth.

**------------------------------------**

Dèjá vu seemed to take its part, and the group was sitting at the normal bench that they were before the XANA attack that changed their lives.

Silence overcame the group, all were too nervous to speak. No one was sure if Yumi made it back alive or not, since she showed up and left again

So, they waited. And waited. And waited.

Fifteen minutes went by, and still no sign of Yumi. Ulrich's heart began to race at fast speeds. His whole mind was containing so many feelings, from worried to panicked, that he was causing himself confusion and a headache. He couldn't take it anymore. But, he had to. He couldn't break down just yet, he had to wait.

_She's alive. She made it back alive, _he kept reassuring himself. But, every now and then, the worst side would take over, and he'd think to himself: _Who am I kidding? She's dead. Dead, dead, dead. I'm never going to see her again!_

To try to keep himself occupied and his mind off of the bad side of the situation, that she wasn't showing up, he twiddled his thumbs. Everyone else was trying to comfort him, telling him that she's probably alive. Odd even tried to call her cell phone twice, but he was unsuccessful at reaching her.

Ulrich had sworn to Jeremie that the time was stopped, but had successfully tugged at Jeremie's arm enough so that he could see his watch, that Jeremie took it off and tossed it at Ulrich. He sat on the cold ground near the bench, staring intently at the watch hands.

Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick . . . tock.

The time seemed to slow down every time he looked at the watch's second hand twitch, signifying one second. Every little twitch seemed to be farther and farther away from the last one.

Minutes passed, and the group had been waiting almost twenty minutes for Yumi to show up. At twenty-two after, Ulrich finally couldn't take it anymore. He cracked.

"I knew it! I knew she didn't make it back alive!" His voice was shaky, and his eyes welled up with tears. "If she was alive, she would have came already! She's dead! I'm never going to see her again!" he wailed, tossing the watch aside and pulling his legs closer to his chest. He rocked back and forth, as the rest of the group tried to comfort him more.

"Ulrich, buddy," Odd started. Aelita patted Ulrich's back, and crouched next to him on the ground. Ulrich sobbed and let the tears flow more. He just had a certain feeling that she was gone.

"Ulrich, you don't know that yet. She may be just running late, just because it's been twenty minutes doesn't mean she's dead," Aelita said, even though she wasn't so sure herself.

"Yeah, like Aelita said, she may not be gone. She could be on her way right now," Jeremie said after he picked up the tossed watch. Odd sat down beside Ulrich, who wiped away the tears that were flowing from his eyes with his shirt, and turned to look at his best friend.

"I'm sure she's alive, buddy. She couldn't leave you like this." Odd said

Aelita took her index finger and placed it on the underside of Ulrich's chin. Gently, she moved his face so that it faced hers. She smiled her cute little smile, and stared into his eyes. A single tear fell from Ulrich's eyes, which Aelita caught and brushed away with her finger. "Ulrich," she said. He turned his head away. "Ulrich, look at me. Please." He turned his head to look at her. "You have to be strong. Please, try."

"Hey guys, what's wrong?" a soft voice spoke from behind.

Ulrich's heart skipped about four beats.

_No, no, it can't be. Or can it? _

He raised his head, and turned it to look behind him. He couldn't believe what he saw. He thought he might just die right then and there.

Standing there in the flesh was none other but his beloved Japanese friend, Yumi. He rose to his feet, before anyone else could turn their heads.

"Yumi!" he shouted with joy. He ran around the bench, and wrapped Yumi in a big hug. She, slightly confused, put one arm around him, still wondering what was the matter. Apparently, she didn't know that she had flat-lined in the hospital.

"Yumi, I'm so sorry I doubted you. I've missed you. You're back, you're really back!" he mumbled into her shoulder. The rest of the group got up off of the ground and walked over to Ulrich and Yumi.

"Doubted me, what? Back? What do you mean I'm 最博 She was interrupted by a joyous sob.

"I'm so happy your back!" His mumbling went on and on. She couldn't quite figure out what he was saying after. She put her other arm around him, and patted him on the back slowly. His hug never loosened once.

"What's up with him?" she mouthed to the others.

"Don't you remember the XANA attack?" Odd asked.

"Parts of it, I last remember being in the hospital. Then, my memory's all fuzzy from then on," she said. Ulrich lightened up on the hug, and turned around to look at the others, still holding on to Yumi. Yumi was going to try to break the hug, but she decided against it, since she was still majorly confused, and she sort of liked having Ulrich this close to her.

"Ulrich said that you flat-lined during emergency surgery," Odd told her.

"I did?"

"Yes, but it must have been right as Aelita entered the code in the tower," Jeremie said.

"That's the only way you could have made it back through the return to the past alive. Otherwise, 最" Aelita lowered her head as she paused.

"I would have died and stayed dead," Yumi said. She looked down at Ulrich's face. His chocolate eyes sparkled at hers. For some reason, she felt pulled into his heart with his eyes.

"Yes, precisely." Jeremie said, pushing his glasses up on his nose farther with his index finger.

"And you would be away from me. Forever," Ulrich said, never taking his gaze off of Yumi. She didn't move hers away from him, either. "Yumi," he paused. "I love you. I wouldn't know what to do if I lost you."

"Ulrich, I love you too." Yumi's lips brushed gently against Ulrich's, and she put her arms around his neck as he placed his on her hips. They both closed their eyes, and

he pulled her closer, so close that they could feel each others body warmth. Ulrich hesitated to deepen the kiss, in fear that it would be going too far right away. However, Yumi deepened it herself within a few seconds.

Their friends looked at each other and smiled. Within a fraction of a second, a three-way "aww" escaped their lips simultaneously.

Ulrich and Yumi broke apart seconds later, needing air. They smiled at each other, and turned to look at the rest of the group, with their arms around each other's back.

The school bell rang, and the kids went their separate ways to their classes.

-----------------------------------------

After school, including the newest member of the team, Sam, was at Ulrich and Odd's dorm to hang out. Ulrich and Yumi were on Ulrich's bed, Aelita and Jeremie were on Odd's bed, and Odd was sitting on the desk chair with Sam on his lap.

"You know, I'm kind of glad that XANA attacked when he did and with that method," Odd said.

"You're glad that XANA attacked, put Yumi on the verge of death, and almost killed her for forever in the end?" Ulrich asked, a little shocked.

"No, I'm glad that XANA attacked because jeopardizing one of us made us all realize how much we care about each other and that we wouldn't be the same if one of us was gone. And plus, it gave us a new member of the Lyoko Fighting Team," he looked down at Sam, and she just smiled and turned back to the group.

"I know that if Yumi was gone, or any of us for that matter, I wouldn't have a girlfriend to talk to about things. I mean, sure, there's like Emilie and other girls who I get along with, but I know that if I have a problem or anything, or just need a friend to talk to, I can always count on talking to Yumi," Aelita said.

"Yeah, and if Yumi was gone, I'd probably not want to continue living," Ulrich said as he turned to look at Yumi. "That's how much I care about you."

"Aww, I care a lot about you, too, Ulrich. I love you." She kissed his cheek, which he wasn't expecting.

"I agree with what Odd said, this XANA attack did bring us closer," Jeremie commented.

"And it made us realize how much we need each other to survive," Ulrich added.

"Yes it did," Yumi said, smiling.

Now, the gang was sure that they were inseparable. Nothing could break up this sweet bond of friendship. Everyone was sure of it.

--------------------------

**So . . . what did you think? Were you sure that she was dead? Did you believe I could be so cruel to kill her off? Hah. I got a lot of PMs and one review saying to me things like "Don't you think you were a little cruel killing Yumi off?!?" So, I want to know how many people I surprised by ending up keeping her alive. **

**And I want to know just in general what you thought of this, and since a lot of readers have either reviewed or PMed me saying they want a sequel, so REVIEW saying you either want a sequel to this or not, since sadly, this shall be the ending of this fanfic. Short, but sweet, as someone PMed me with. **

**So, please hit the "GO" button and send a review!!!**


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